AshleyMadison.com Says Suits Filed Anonymously Are A No-Go

NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL – Sep 21 – So far, 11 lawsuits have been filed against Avid Life Media, which operates AshleyMadison.com, most of them class actions accusing the company of negligence in allowing its customers’ personal info, like credit card numbers, to be hacked. Avid filed a motion to combine all the lawsuits in the Eastern District of Missouri. Their planned defense includes challenging the anonymity of the cases as procedurally improper under federal rules. Plaintiffs in some of the cases said they filed anonymously to protect their privacy. But anonymity could be an issue, said Gary Mason, a lawyer who filed one case against Ashley Madison. “It’s going to be hard to prosecute a case on behalf of the class, a representative lawsuit, with someone who’s not willing to step forward and publicly disclose who they are,” he said.